


Crimson

by Paffa



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Fluff and Angst, Han Jisung | Han & Lee Felix are Best Friends, Insecure Han jisung, M/M, Misunderstandings, Or Is It?, Red String of Fate, Unrequited Crush, happy birthday Minho!, i'm sorry bby, mostly angst though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27152516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paffa/pseuds/Paffa
Summary: You see, being bound to your soulmate might sound like an amazing thing. In theory. Because literally being bound to them by a string that’s invisible – well, that just brings a lot of inconveniences. Too many times does it lead to accidentally dropping something or tripping over air – that is at least, if your name is Jisung.“They have to be doing this on purpose.” Jisung said, still holding onto the wall he almost walked into after a sudden tug on his left wrist.or: the soulmate au where you are bond to your soulmate by an invisible, etheral string
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 6
Kudos: 92





	1. Don't string me along

You see, being bound to your soulmate might sound like an amazing thing. In theory. Literally being bound to them by a string that’s invisible – well, that just brings a lot of inconveniences. Too many times does it lead to accidentally dropping something or tripping over air – that is at least, if your name is Jisung.

“They have to be doing this on purpose,” Jisung said, still holding onto the wall he had almost walked into after a sudden tug on his left wrist.

Chan, who was still holding onto his arm to steady him, let out a quiet snort. “You can’t keep blaming your soulmate for your clumsiness, Sung. They most likely don’t even know who you are. So, how would they do this on purpose?”

Chan slowly loosened his grip until Jisung was nodding his head in thanks and began walking again, this time careful as to not walk into anything else again. “Easy for you to say. Lix would never do anything to put you into harm’s way. Way too nice for that. But I swear it’s them doing this and not me not paying attention. I tripped five times yesterday. Over literally nothing. And this is the second time today that I’ve been pulled by my wrist. That cannot be accidental.”

“I mean, I guess you’re right. Just – if they know who you are, why not come talk to you? Why keep pulling all this? Pun not intended.”

At Chan’s question Jisung faltered in his steps momentarily, before regaining his wits and continuing like nothing happened, only a frown on his face remained. “I don’t know. I mean the only explanation I have, is that they don’t like me and are trying to piss me off while simultaneously ripping the string.”

Jisung could hear Chan stop walking the very moment those words left his mouth. “Wait- you can’t be serious. Jisung!”

Not bothering to turn around, said boy simply shrugged his shoulders and motioned for his friend to keep going. “Hyung, hurry up. Classes are about to start.”

Even without turning around, Jisung could imagine the confused look on Chan’s face. And considering his friend basically had hit the jackpot in the soulmate lottery with Felix, it made sense. Chan never had to wonder that maybe his soulmate wasn’t happy with him. The very moment Felix had walked into their school two years ago, he had felt the string tightening. They both had. So, Chan had volunteered to show the new boy around and from what Jisung had heard from them both, they had clicked instantly and soon after discovered they were indeed soulmates. The picture-perfect story of how one should meet their fated one. Only that Jisung was certain he would never experience anything like that, seeing how his own soulmate clearly knew who he was already and evidently wasn’t happy about it.

The string around his wrist pulled him out of his thoughts by once more tensing up and almost making him collide with another person. Hastily he tried moving out of the way, but the thread wouldn’t let him. Rather it pulled him even further towards the other person, in a way that almost hurt his wrist. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, Jisung let himself be pulled and ended up stumbling into not only one person, but a pair that had been lingering in front of their classroom. As soon as he made contact with the first person, the string loosened again. But that moment of relief was short lived. Immediately after, Jisung began apologizing for bumping into the two boys. At least he knew them: Kim Seungmin and Hwang Hyunjin. He had known both of them since first grade, so thankfully they already knew he didn’t mean any harm.

“It’s okay, Jisung-ah. No need to apologize. It’s not your fault anyway,” Seungmin said calmly while Hyunjin, who looked slightly confused, nodded in agreement.

Before Jisung could say anything, Chan came up to them as well, having caught up to him at last. “Jisung! Hey, you can’t just walk away and- oh. Hey. Everything alright here?”

Hearing the concern in his voice, Jisung turned towards his friend and smiled at him reassuringly. “Don’t worry, all is fine. Just the usual.”

Chan’s eyes flitted over his face, searching for any indication that he wasn’t being completely honest. Only after seemingly finding nothing to doubt his words did he nod his head once and faced the others again. “Well, guess luck’s on Sung’s side then, seeing how he ran into you guys. Others might have not taken it as well as you did.”

Seungmin’s eyebrows rose as soon as he heard the word ‘luck’, only to take a small step aside and reveal that Hyunjin and him weren’t the only ones standing in the entrance of their classroom. Once he had taken a step back, Jisung was able to make out two more boys, one of whom was silently watching their conversation and the other typing away on his phone. Or rather, Lee Minho and Seo Changbin. When Minho noticed that Seungmin wasn’t covering them anymore, he started raising one of his hands before seemingly thinking better of it, and simply smiling politely.

“Minho! Changbin-ah! I didn’t notice you two. You’re early today,” Chan exclaimed almost directly after noticing them as well. “Have you seen Felix yet?”

At the mention of Felix, Changbin finally looked up from his phone. “Yongbok? Ah, no, sorry. Pretty sure he wanted to talk to Jeongin this morning though. Oh, hey Jisung. You alright? Look kinda out of it.”

Hearing his name, Jisung shifted his eyes away from Minho and towards Changbin again. “What? Ah, yeah. Everything’s good. Just, you know, the usual.”

Before any of them could reply, they were interrupted by a cough coming from behind them. Without having to look, Jisung knew it was their teacher – Mr. Moon. He had heard the irritated cough more than enough to remember what it sounded like. “If the lot of you wouldn’t mind making way, I would appreciate it. Because as interesting as your conversation might be, I have a lesson to teach. And I am sure your own teachers would also appreciate it, if you would be on time, Mr. Seo and Mr. Bang. Mr. Lee, you too. Everyone else, get inside and find your seats.”

The three older boys politely bowed before hurrying out of the room together. The moment the door closed, Jisung could feel the string tensing up once more.

Almost subconsciously he began rubbing his thumb over his left wrist. Even if it didn’t sooth the stinging, from where the thread would have cut into his skin if it had been tangible, it did help sooth his mind. He kept doing that until Felix entered the room, out of breath and huffing out an apology to their teacher. Mr. Moon barely even acknowledged him before continuing to explain something Jisung hadn’t been paying attention to in the first place anyway.

Felix hastened to his seat next to Jisung and sat down before smiling excitedly at him. “You won’t guess what happened.”

Perplexed, Jisung stopped his motion. “What?”

“Guess what happened.” Felix repeated almost bouncing in his seat.

“Eh, I don’t know. You won the lottery?”

If Felix was deterred by his flat tone he didn’t let on, but simply shook his head with a little too much enthusiasm. “Nope. It’s not about me.”

And as much as Jisung would have liked to match his best friend’s excitement, he just couldn’t bring himself to. Felix must have noticed that as well, because he calmed himself down slightly, his smile turning from happy to understanding. 

“It’s okay, I’ll tell you. It’s about Jeongin. He found his soulmate! At least he thinks he did. He hasn’t confronted them yet, but we’re both pretty sure that he’s right. And before you say anything, don’t be upset he told me first. He only noticed yesterday when we were hanging out together, so he wanted to explain why he left me hanging so suddenly,” Felix told him, gradually becoming calmer and softening his voice to fit the classroom atmosphere.

Jisung could feel the conflicted feelings inside him rise higher and higher, once Felix was done explaining.

On one hand, he was happy for his friend. Finding your soulmate, especially at their age, was an incredible occasion. And Jeongin had been laying in their ears, constantly complaining how Felix had already found his and how Jisung should count himself lucky that his was trying to communicate with him as well – even if it was in an unconventional way. Most people couldn’t even feel the bond until they first really connected with their fated one.

On the other hand, Jisung was still feeling bitter about the reoccurring thought that his soulmate might be taunting him, simply because they didn’t want him. Because they found out by chance and aren’t happy with fate’s choice for them. Because he wasn’t good enough for them.

The conflict must have shown on his face, because Felix’s expression turned even softer, before he reached for Jisung’s right hand, which had once again subconsciously started to rub the inner wrist of his left hand. He entwined their fingers and laid their hands on top of his table. “Let’s get some cupcakes after school. My treat.”

Without another word, Felix turned to the front and started to listen to the lesson, not letting go of Jisung’s hand. Jisung in turn focused on the contact to ground himself again.

Without him noticing, the lesson came to an end. Only when Felix pulled at his hand again, did he notice that the room was clearing out. “Do you wanna talk to Jeongin or should we hang out alone for lunch?” Felix asked him once he had cleared his thoughts again.

“Would he be okay with that? Because Lix, don’t get me wrong, I am happy for him. It’s just not a great day for this I think.” Jisung said while standing up as well, without letting go of Felix’s hand.

“He understands. I’ll text him and then we’re good to go. Come on, Sungie!”

For once Jisung let himself be pulled willingly by an outer force.

By the end of the school day, he felt way better. Felix hadn’t left his side once, even after Changbin had called him and asked if they could meet up. Which was saying a lot. Having his best friend around just made everything better for Jisung. Felix honestly was the equivalent to the sun on earth.

Only once he was waiting for his friend outside the school, did things worsen again. The string hadn’t pulled him again after that morning, but once he stepped outside it tensed up once more, pulling so strong, that his hand which had leisurely been hanging next to his hip, was yanked away. It was almost as if his soulmate was playing with him. Pulling the string taut, then loosening it again. Pulling it taut, letting go. Rinse and repeat. And Jisung got severely annoyed. Irritated, he turned in every direction to try and find anyone who was acting suspicious. But he couldn’t find anyone. Was his soulmate really somewhere far away, unknowingly annoying Jisung, to the point where he got fed up with them? Or were they just incredible at hide and seek? Before Jisung could go ahead and search the whole parking lot, the door opened and Felix walked outside with Chan hanging off of him.

“Sungie! I’m so sorry, Channie hyung wouldn’t let me leave without promising him that I would come by his’ later. And even now he won’t let me go either!”

“I just wanted to see Jisungie too! I’ll head off now that I achieved that. Ah, and Felix, greet Sung’s mother for me as well, alright? Gotta go! Have fun you two.” After hugging Felix tightly, Chan ran off towards the bus station while waving them goodbye.

Shaking his head at Chan’s antics with a gentle smile on his face, Felix turned towards Jisung and linked their arms. “You good to go? If we don’t hurry, the best ones will be gone.”

The annoyance drained out of Jisung and left him with the gratitude and happiness he had felt earlier again. So, he nodded his head and together they walked straight towards the city, the string tensing slightly once more.

“By the way, Binnie hyung keeps telling me to ask you to come to one of his poetry slam thingies. No idea why he can’t ask you himself, but you know. Maybe he’s too embarrassed to let you see his soft side.” Felix told him once they were walking back with their stomachs and an additional bag full of cupcakes.

“Really, he should know better. If I wanted to make fun of that- well I wouldn’t wait until I hear his poetry anyway. Hyung is probably only using me as an excuse to talk to you.” Jisung laughed.

His laughter was cut short though once not only his wrist but his whole left arm was being pulled to the side. Before he could get angry and turn around again, Felix took hold of his other hand, making his attention shift to his best friend again. “Hey, are you okay? Want me to switch to your left side?”

Jisung was just about to answer, when Felix’s phone rang. Said boy didn’t move a muscle but Jisung could tell he wanted to see who was calling. “Just pick it up. I have to pick up something for mom anyway. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll just ignore it. See you in five?”

Felix nodded and got his phone out to answer the call, while Jisung turned and walked towards the crossroad, thoughts clouding his mind. 

Why was today such a mess? Why mess around with him even more today than any other day? Normally, it was a few pulls here and there, but never as excessive. Or maybe he was only noticing it more because he was focusing on it? Thinking about it, the string had never before felt so solid. Struck by that thought, and against his better judgement, Jisung raised his left hand to check if maybe he could see the thread. He knew a fated string almost never was visible. Only in very rare cases it was reported to have shown itself. Mostly when one of the Fated was in grave danger. Sometimes, only in very rare cases, it was reported that it showed itself when soulmates were able to achieve such deep feelings that even fate was impressed. So, when Jisung looked down and didn’t see a solid thread, he should have expected it. What he couldn’t have expected though, was the veil shimmering, and slowly revealing a red string bound around his wrist. The sight of it shocked him so much, Jisung completely forgot to keep walking. He completely forgot that he was currently in the very middle of the street.

He only remembered once a car honked at him aggressively.

Time seemed to slow down in that moment. His eyes shifted from the red string upwards towards the honking car. Which was approaching him. At a high speed. And Jisung was frozen.

That is until the thread around his wrist teared at him so hard, he was stumbling backwards, effectively entangling himself in the now visible string. The pull continued. Stronger. Almost unbearably strong. Everything around Jisung turned into a blur. The sound of the traffic. People talking. Music playing in the distance.

The only thing he heard clearly was a heartbeat. A heartbeat that wasn’t his own. Realizing that, he also noticed how he wasn’t in the middle of the street anymore. Neither was he being pulled anymore. Instead he was standing on the side of the road. Encased by two arms which were tightening their hold on him, drawing him into the other person even further. The heartbeat grew louder. An erratic Ba-dump. Bada-dump. Babada-dump.

And even if Jisung couldn’t see the string anymore, he could feel it wave around them, trying to bind them together indefinitely. Time must have stopped right then and there. Jisung only remembered who he was and why he was there in the first place, once he heard his best friend’s voice over the loud heartbeat.

“Jisung! Han Jisung! _Oh my God_! Are you okay?”

Jisung’s attempts at getting out of the embrace were met with strong resistance. Instead of loosening their hold on him, the arms tensed even further, as if their owner was afraid that if they would let go, they would never be able to hold Jisung again. And if it hadn’t been for his best friend’s next words, Jisung might have stayed there forever.

“Wait- Hyung? What- Jisung, you- Minho hyung?”

As soon as the last two words left Felix’s mouth, Jisung broke out of the embrace harshly to see for himself, only to come face to face with Lee Minho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (updated the chapter title because i discovered the wonders of puns)


	2. T(h)read carefully

Minho found out who his fated one was on a Sunday evening.

He had just finished a late session at the dance studio he had been going to for a few years when it had started to rain. At first, it had looked like it would only be a short shower of rain, but it had quickly turned into a full blown thunder storm, and so Minho had hurried through the heavy rain, trying to get home as fast as he could. At one point though the rain got so unbearable that he had to stop and seek shelter in a nearby convenience store. The clerk had winced upon seeing how drenched he had been at that point, but Minho had simply signalled his refusal when the clerk offered him a dirty towel. Instead, he kindly apologized for the mess he was making and decided to sit down at the counter near the window before taking out his phone to call his mother.

Even before he had finished the call, another person had stumbled into the store. Without caring about the trails of mud he was making, the boy had hurried towards an aisle that hadn’t been visible to Minho. Still, the clattering shortly after had been enough to tell Minho that the boy had to be somewhere near the canned food. Either the boy was incredibly careless or simply just clumsy, seeing how soon after, Minho had heard cans falling to the floor. The clerk had let out an exhausted sigh before he got around the shop counter and made his way towards where the other boy must have been. Only once the clumsy boy had started to apologize loudly, did Minho recognize him: Han Jisung. Technically, he didn’t know Jisung well, only the occasional encounter in the school hallway or the younger being mentioned by some of his friends.

Which is to say, Minho actually knew more about the other boy than he let on.

After one particular encounter involving Jisung, himself and some still-wet paint, Minho had started to pay closer attention to the other. Which in the end might had turned into a slight infatuation. Maybe.

So, there he had sat, a few metres away from Jisung, who still had been apologising and probably making an even bigger mess. But before Minho even had the chance to get up and see if he would have been able to help, he had heard the cash register ring. He hadn’t even noticed them moving towards the counter, and now the door had been opened once more and Jisung had hurried into the rain again. Great.

While watching the door close, Minho’s gaze had drifted off only to focus onto something he hadn’t noticed before: an umbrella. With a new idea in mind, he had hurriedly gotten up from his stool and rushed towards the counter himself.

“How much do you want for that?” He had asked the perplexed employee, who had explained to him, that the umbrella wasn’t for sale and that it actually was his own.

“Okay, listen. You look like you still have to work for a few more hours. And I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sure the rain will stop before that. So, here’s my deal: you sell me your umbrella and I’ll pay you double the amount you yourself had to pay for it. Win-win. What do you say?”

Minho had walked out of the store with a new umbrella and 30,000 won poorer.

He had looked around, trying to see if he could find Jisung still nearby, but didn’t see the younger boy anywhere. In the end, he had decided to follow his guts and had rushed across the street to follow the sidewalk towards a small alleyway. There at the very end, Jisung had been crouching in front of a small cardboard box. From where he had been standing, Minho hadn’t been able to make out what exactly the younger was doing, so he slowly, and as soundless as possible had approached the other. Once he had been close enough to see better, his breath had gotten caught in his airway.

Inside the box had been one little kitten with her mother, seeking shelter from the rain. Whereas Jisung had been crouched in front of them, dripping wet and shivering with every gust of cold air, trying to feed them some canned cat food, softly whispering to them.

Minho had felt something tug at his heart. That feeling then had travelled from his chest towards his wrist. Only once the tugging had gotten so bad that he had almost dropped the umbrella, did he realize what was going on.

Han Jisung was his soulmate.

In the end, Minho had left the umbrella close nearby for Jisung to find, and had simply left with the knowledge, that the boy he had a small crush on was his soulmate.

* * *

“You still haven’t told him. Hyung, you need to stop messing around and tell him,” Seungmin said, while dusting the blackboard sponge next to Minho. Leaning out the window in the second story of their school meant Minho was able to see all the students swarm out of the school building and into the parking lot.

“Hyung! Are you even listening?”

With a sigh, Minho turned his attention back towards his friend. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell him, you know that. But he barely even knows me. I don’t want him to only like me because he is supposed to. Because I am his soulmate.”

Seungmin ceased his work for a second to give him a doubtful look. “Well, you’re not doing a great job at that. I mean, instead of annoying him with your knowledge why not try to befriend him instead? I don’t see you trying to get closer to him by normal means either, Hyung.”

“Stop making sense, Seungminnie,” Minho answered before turning away again. “He is a lot less approachable than you think.”

“He is what now? Hyung, seriously…” Seungmin started, but Minho stopped paying attention to the younger’s words as soon as he saw Jisung exit the building. Immediately, his attention shifted towards his soulmate. He started to pull at the string, hoping it would get Jisung to turn around, so that he could see him better. And just as predicted, the younger boy really turned around, an annoyed look on his face.

Honestly, that was the only downside to the current situation – beside the fact that Jisung probably didn’t even really know who Minho was. To Minho, playing with the invisible thread was a fun way of showing Jisung that he wasn’t alone, that there was someone out there who was waiting for him. But recently he noticed that Jisung mostly just looked annoyed or mad whenever Minho tugged on their connection a little. So, maybe Seungmin was making even more sense than he originally thought.

Speaking of the other boy, Minho got pulled out of his thoughts by Seungmin throwing one of the sponges at him. “You aren’t listening.”

“What gave you that impression?” Minho responded without taking his eyes off of Jisung, who was being joined by Felix and Chan.

“You not reacting to me calling you stupid, was the first clue. The second was the look in your eyes and Jisung literally standing outside right in your view field.”

Minho only hummed, watching the two best friends outside leave for the city. “Hey, you got any plans after this?”

“Actually, yes. But I’m sure you don’t actually care about that, and are gonna drag me with you anyway. So, where’re we going today?”

With a wicked smirk, Minho turned around. “How about some shopping today, Minnie?”

Seungmin simply sighed before nodding his head in defeat.

Maybe following his crush and soulmate for a whole afternoon was a little pathetic, Minho could agree with Seungmin on that. He hadn’t expected Jisung and Felix to spend hours in only one cupcake shop though. But seeing his soulmate laugh and stuff his face with so many cupcakes that Minho was sure he’d get a stomach-ache afterwards, was still incredibly entertaining.

“Do we really have to stalk your crush while he’s literally just eating? I mean, not that I have something better to do but- actually, I do.” Okay, so maybe only Minho was entertained. 

“Stop being such a grouch, Minnie. Look, they are packing up and leaving already. Come on.” But before Minho could take even one step, Seungmin intervened. 

“Hyung, wait! Goddamn!” Seungmin yelled before suddenly hauling Minho to a stop and dragging him behind a nearby pillar. The sudden action surprised Minho to the point where he subconsciously pulled on the bond a little harder than he had intended to. 

“What the hell? What are you doing?”

Before answering Minho’s question, Seungmin peeked around the pillar before letting out a relieved sigh and leaning against it. “Remember how I told you that I had plans? Well, because of you I had to cancel. And I told- well, I told them that I was feeling sick. And- I mean they were just around that corner and I didn’t wanna look like a liar, so…”

Upon Seungmin’s explanation Minho relaxed again, softly nodding his head in understanding. “I see. I’m sorry, Minnie. I didn’t realize it was this important. Come on let’s leave and hang out at mine. Or you could text and tell them that you’re doing better-“

Before he could finish that sentence though, Minho felt the string around his wrist tighten and tug harshly. Instantly, Minho turned around, frantically searching for Jisung but not finding him anywhere. So, he hurried around the pillar again, only to catch sight of the boy standing in the very middle of the street without moving.

“What is he doing? Hyung, what is Jisung doing?” Minho didn’t know how to answer, frozen in shock and fear.

“Minnie, why isn’t he moving? Oh my- Minnie! Why isn’t he moving?” Minho cried out after noticing a car that was approaching his soulmate rapidly. Jisung still wasn’t moving. He simply kept standing still, like a deer caught in the headlight.

In his desperation, Minho began tugging and yanking at the now fully visible string as hard as he could.

“Hyung! What are- Stop! You’re gonna tear it!”

“So, what! I’d rather have it torn than Jisung dead!” And even though the thought of their connection actually tearing apart terrified him, seeing Jisung stumbling off of the street and towards him, looking completely disorientated, was enough for Minho to keep going.

Once he deemed Jisung safe enough, he rushed over to the younger boy and hugged him so tight, he was afraid his lungs would give out. Minho could feel himself tremble, the dread of almost losing his soulmate still hanging over his head.

Jisung was safe now. And in his arms, where he belonged. Minho would never let him go again. He could feel the thread wrap around them like a cocoon, and he would have gladly let it encase them completely, if not for Jisung moving, and faintly trying to break out of his arms. Minho tightened his hold even further at that. He simply didn’t dare let go.

That is, until he heard Felix’s deep voice.

“Wait- Hyung? What- Jisung, you- Minho hyung?”

Immediately, Jisung ripped himself out of Minho’s embrace and stared up at him with big, surprised eyes. No words would ever be able to describe how Minho was feeling the moment the surprise turned from confusion into hurt.

“Why?”

Minho never thought that one word had the power to break his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Minho's birthdayy~~ for this special day i wanted to release the second (and last?) chapter of this idea!  
> Hopefully it was enjoyable to read (=⌒‿‿⌒=)  
> (its not beta-read so there might be some mistakes left...)


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